


Fins

by babyblueglasses



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Attempted Murder, Dehumanization, Happy Ending, M/M, Merpeople, One Shot, Possessive Loki, Tony judges you and your competency the same way your cat does, all the issues surrounding keeping a merperson as a pet, and fluff?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 11:58:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11989350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyblueglasses/pseuds/babyblueglasses
Summary: It wasn’t as if the concept of a merperson were entirely new, but when word got around that a vendor at Asgard’s weekly market was selling some, well, naturally curiosity got the best of everyone.Merpeople were supposed to be ethereal, beguiling creatures that were enchanting to behold. It made the creatures quite acceptable as pets, in the same way that one thinks nothing of keeping a goldfish.Besides, they had the same intellect as a goldfish, as the eldest prince’s brother kept telling him as he was dragged towards the market stall. “You’ll tire of looking at it after a week,” Loki lectured Thor. The curtain flapped against him as Thor went inside anyway. “Thor,” Loki called. He shoved back the fabric with a huff, irritably stepping inside the booth.





	Fins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silver_drip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_drip/gifts).



It wasn’t as if the concept of a merperson were entirely new, but when word got around that a vendor at Asgard’s weekly market was selling some, well, naturally curiosity got the best of everyone. 

Merpeople were supposed to be ethereal, beguiling creatures that were enchanting to look at. Their humanoid top halves were unbearably beautiful, and the scales that adorned the tails of their lower halves rendered most speechless. It also made the creatures quite acceptable as pets, in the same way that one thinks nothing of keeping a goldfish. 

Besides, they had the same intellect as a goldfish, as the eldest prince’s brother kept telling him as he was dragged towards the market stall. “You’ll tire of looking at it after a week,” Loki lectured Thor. The heavy, embroidered cloth draped over the stall flapped against him as Thor went inside. “Thor,” Loki called. He shoved back the curtain with a huff, irritably stepping inside the booth. 

Lights were strung from the top. They made the tent look foggy from the wafts of overwhelming incense curled in the air. All around were massive glass jars, taller than Loki, and narrow. Some were filled with water, their glass marred by algae and grime. Others were empty. Thor had already marched past the disappointing display to the back of the tent. 

Loki coughed, rolling his eyes at the incense. Who would be willing to purchase a pet from such a place? 

He could hear his brother’s voice move further away. Its base timbre followed him everywhere. Loki’s feet dragged in its direction. Each glass jar that he passed was empty. It mildly surprised him. Merpeople were rare, thus exorbitantly priced. Surely most of Asgard could not afford one? 

Though, he supposed, he had heard of a few court members purchasing them recently. 

Maybe the merchant would be sold out and this adventure in his brother’s folly could mercifully come to an end. 

Just as Loki spotted his brother, Thor was turning back around. “Finished so soon?” He asked mockingly, coming to stand beside his brother. 

“They have sold out,” Thor told him. Loki glanced at the gruff shop keeper behind them. Before he could say anything, however, he noticed an occupied jar. 

Inside, the merperson appeared to be asleep. Well, Loki hoped that he was asleep, because it was rather morbid to consider the alternative. Besides, it would be such a waste, considering how beautiful the creature was. 

He had a long, crimson red tail, streaked with flecks of gold. In several places, the fin was marred, shredded strands floating out in the water. He had flecks of red scales along his jawline, and a dark, almost black scruff of short brown hair floated above him. From the center of the creature’s chest, a splintering tangle of scar lines traced outward. “That is hardly what we came to see,” Thor said behind him, noticing his brother’s interest. “They shall be lucky to sell him at all.” 

Loki’s gaze drifted up to the heavy metal plate on top of the creature’s jar. Thick books and mismatched bricks had been piled there. “Do they escape easily?” Loki asked the shop keeper. 

The shop keeper glanced over at the jar with obvious disgust. “Just this one,” he said. 

Loki stepped closer. He wondered how the creature’s eyes would look when awake. He hoped they would be as enchanting as the rest of him. “Surely you are not interested in such a homely creature,” Thor said. “Look at its chest.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. Of course Thor would fail to see beauty in anything but twittering maidens. 

He leaned back from the jar, not correcting his brother. It would work out to his advantage. “Are you going to dump him back in the ocean?” Loki asked the shop keeper, as if it were out of his own cruel curiosity. 

“It wouldn’t survive in Asgard’s oceans,” Thor said before the shop keeper had a chance. “It should be released back on Midgard.” 

“Seems like a waste to transport it over such a distance,” Loki thought aloud. 

The shop keeper wasn’t an idiot, though. “You seem interested,” he said to Loki. “Perhaps my prince would like such a creature?” 

Loki could afford any price. The fun was the game. He looked to Thor, as if he’d seek his brothers opinion. “Loki,” Thor said, the ‘no’ clear in his voice. He burst into laughter. “Surely you jest,” he told the shop keeper. “My brother is a prince. He will not accept such a poor specimen. It is an insult.” A flicker of doubt crossed the shop keeper’s face. 

“I must admit,” Loki said with a sigh. “I do feel a certain degree of pity for the thing…” 

“You are too kind,” Thor told his brother. “Leave this man to address his own woes—”

“How much?” Loki asked the shop keeper. 

He paused, considering the price a moment. “Ten thousand.” 

“Extortion,” Thor declared, attempting to convince his brother and entirely ignoring the shop keeper. It was playing out beautifully, as it had since Loki first ventured to the market with Thor hundreds of years ago. He’d never failed to get what he wanted. 

Loki lent just the right degree of puppy dog eyes to his face. “It’s such a pitiable position the man finds himself in,” Loki said. “I am tempted to see it as an act of charity. Surely we could dump the thing in with the rest of the fish on display in the palace pool?” 

“Loki,” Thor said. “Let us part. Your kind heart is being taken advantage of.” 

Loki bit back on a grin, though he was almost dizzy with how pleased the statement made him. “You are right,” he said, taking a definitive step towards his brother. “It is so easy for me to get carried away when I see such—”

“—Three thousand,” the shopkeeper said. “Three thousand, and I’ll waive the delivery fee, my prince.” 

Thor glanced at his brother, still unconvinced. “The man is practically giving him away,” Loki told him, as if seeking permission. Thor seemed to waver. “Surely no one else will purchase such a creature,” Loki said. “It would be pitiful for him to spend his life in that jar,” he pleaded. “If I don’t purchase him, who will?” 

Thor sighed, turning to the shop keeper. “Deliver him to the palace this afternoon,” he said. “You will be paid in full then.” 

Loki left the tent in a state of glee, uncertain wether it was from the fun of the game, or the fascinating merman. 

 

It took very little to convince Thor to have the merman delivered to his bathing suite, rather than the palace pool. The creature needed a bath, did it not? That was reason enough. 

Loki stood with his back against the doorframe, watching the guards carry the woefully heavy glass jar. It still had the metal plate and bricks stacked on top, but the books were missing. 

This time, the creature was moving. It flailed in the jar, its tail smacking against the sides in vain. His back was marked by nothing but a single scar, ridges of spine peaking out as the merman curled and twisted. Once or twice his arm reached up, pushing against the metal plate. The gold gleam in his tail and fins caught the light in a dazzling array as he thrashed. 

Anticipation built in Loki as he watched the guards. They were trying to avoid placing their hands anywhere near the top, as if they were afraid. Not that they could ever admit such a thing. 

The creature’s whole attention was on the bathing suite. He had been turned from Loki for so long that when the creature spun around, facing Loki’s direction for the first time, Loki wasn’t ready. 

Golden irises stared back at him. They had the gleam of a nocturnal creature’s eyes, the vibrancy of their glow unsettling. There seemed to be intelligence in those eyes. Loki would know.

No, that was silly. A mermaid was just a fish, a novelty for the beauty of its human half, nothing more. 

As the creature lost interest in him, ramming its body against the side and causing a guard to hastily right his footing, Loki shoved aside the sense of foreboding in his chest. It was just a fish, nothing more. 

The guards came to the edge of the bathing pool. They paused. There was some quiet discussion between them before one addressed Loki. “Shall we place him in the pool, my prince?” 

“I don’t know where else you would place him,” Loki drawled. 

“The jar’s water,” another began. “Will sully—”

“It is nothing the baths will not filter out,” Loki assured the guard. The massive white granite room, with its skylights and multiple baths centered throughout the floor, was hardly unfamiliar with a mess or two. Usually it was the grime of battle that it washed away, but it would do just fine. That’s what magic was for. “I should think the creature’s temperament will improve when it has a pool or two that it can actually swim in.” 

The guards didn’t argue. One just hastily lifted off the top while the others dumped the glass jar in. The merman cascaded in on the swell, gold sparkling in his scales, before submerging himself beneath the water completely. The guards left the glass jar beside the door and excused themselves with relieved bows. Loki shut the door after them. 

His eyes scanned the water’s surface, but he saw nothing, not a single ripple. The largest pool, at the center of the room, had a ledge along the edge to facilitate bathing, but it was quite deep. Channels connected it to the eight smaller pools. It was more than feasible to traverse between them, but a few baths were blocked off and permanently filled with scented herbal mixtures. That left the creature with five to choose from. Loki didn’t move. The creature would have to surface for air before long. 

He waited. It was no surprise when Loki saw the creature’s head surface in the pool furthest from the center. On instinct, he shrouded himself, interested in what the creature would do when it thought itself all alone. 

It looked for people, but finding nothing, the creature boldly came out of the water, all the way to its navel. Water slipped down its shoulders. 

It was nothing unlike the rest of its kind. It was stunning. 

Everything from its tan, muscular torso to the damaged fin flicking irritably on the surface of the water captivated Loki. 

After a moment, the creature hoisted itself up on its arms, flopping out of the pool into the rest of the room. Its head swiveled everywhere, searching for something. It pulled itself between the pools, avoiding the pine scented one, but not the others. The creature examined the room’s contents feverishly, pulling apart soap bottles and perfumes. A glass bottle captured its attention. The creature carried it with him as he continued his ransacking. Perhaps merpeople were like magpies. It was a pretty bottle. 

Ordinarily, Loki would’ve barked at such impudence, but he found himself strangely mesmerized. 

Once the creature had throughly inspected the room, it took the glass bottle, turning it over in its hands. Loki made a mental note to purchase more, thinking to charm the creature. The merman raised the bottle in one hand. It truly must’ve been enamored. Loki flinched as the merman’s hand slammed down, glass shattering. 

The merman took the largest glass fragment and slipped back below the water. 

Loki sighed. 

Loki stepped back to the door, pulling it open. The water’s surface stayed still. He slammed the door shut, allowing himself to come into view. Loki strode in regally, his garment flaring out behind him. He didn’t need the armor he wore to subdue the creature, but it would lend an impression. 

Loki stopped in front of the pool he knew the creature was in. He expected for it to surface immediately, but nothing happened. With a sigh, Loki knelt down at the edge. 

His vulnerable position lured the creature out, lunging the glass shard at his neck. 

With a flick of his fingers, the shard vanished midair. The creature let out a startled cry, falling back in the water. A second later it surfaced on the far edge of the pool, pressing itself to the side to create as much distance as possible. Its fearful eyes latched onto him, yet held his gaze in a way that spoke of courage.

For the first time, Loki felt true sympathy for the creature. 

“Is that any way to greet me?” He asked softly. 

The creature’s eyes narrowed. 

“I don’t wish to harm you,” Loki said sweetly. He knew his words meant nothing to it, but he hoped the tone at least conveyed a sense of welcoming. Even if it was incapable of speech, it should at least be able to understand that. “You are going to like your new home.” 

The creature scoffed, smiling. As if it were truly _amused_. 

It was a strange reaction. Loki studied the creature a little more carefully. Perhaps their humanoid half gave them the ability to feel amusement. Perhaps it was just a mark of fear. 

Loki extended his hand. “Come here, little fish,” he cooed. 

The merman’s unsettling gold eyes regarded him again, as if truly thinking about him. He dove beneath the water, his back close to the surface, before appearing beside Loki’s hand. He reached for it. And tried to pull Loki under. 

Loki didn’t budge. His freehand shot beneath the creature’s chin, capturing him by the neck and drawing him out of the water by several inches as magic disabled the creature’s tail. Panic clouded its eyes. “Attempt to drown me again and it shall be most unpleasant,” he assured the merman. He held the merman’s fraught gaze until he was confident that the sentiment had been taken to heart and dropped him. 

The merman gasped for air as he fell back into the water, but didn’t surface for several minutes. Sulking. Pouting. Loki stood, vanishing away the broken glass and every last bottle and implement in the room. 

Then he strode over to the center pool, stripping and getting in as if a murderous merman weren’t a couple pools over. 

He stretched his arms out over the sides of the tub, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He could feel the merman’s attention on him. He stayed for nearly an hour, but the creature never ventured closer.

 

Loki dressed and returned a while later, carrying a generous tray of food. The merman had moved to the center pool. Loki supposed it was deeper. “This is for you,” he called out. Loki set it down by the water’s edge and didn’t stay to see if it was accepted. 

Later that night, he retrieved an empty tray. Loki’s stomach twisted. It seemed the creature had been starving. 

 

Over the next couple of days, Loki set out food at regular intervals. The merman kept his distance. Loki carried on bathing as usual, the merman always withdrawing to one of the adjacent pools. Three days in, the merman started showing a preference in foods, leaving some uneaten instead of devouring everything in its entirety. 

Thor was amused by his brother’s new pet, but had already written it off as one of Loki’s eccentricities. By the end of the week, no one cared that Loki had adopted a skittish mermaid. They’d never really shown much interest in the first place, after Thor’s description of the creature. 

Loki’s own interest began to wane. On several occasions he had walked into the pools and tried to draw out the creature, but it only ever watched him from a safe distance. By the end of the week, he no longer took more than passing interest in the pet. 

 

A week and a half in, Loki awoke in the middle of the night to a voice. He shot up in bed, heart pounding as he tried to locate the sound. A moment of stillness, holding his breath, straining to hear over the pounding in his ears, and he realized the voice was echoing. That could only mean one thing. 

Loki crept from his bed chambers, padding on silent feet towards the bathing suite. The voice grew louder as he got closer. Shrouding himself in invisibility, he teleported to the other side of the door. 

Rays of moonlight fell in patches on the pools. In the center sat the merman, eyes closed, head titled towards the skylights as a gentle voice sang. His long, drawn out notes sent a shiver down Loki’s spine. Loki couldn’t discern the merman’s muttered words, if there were any in the song. The merman held the notes as long as his lungs allowed.

Each note was so soulful, so saturated with longing that Loki became overwhelmed with homesickness. He didn’t move. He stood there, enraptured by the creature, wondering why he ever allowed himself to keep it in the first place. 

It must’ve hated it here. 

When the merman tired of his song he let out a long sigh, dropping his back against the tiled floor and staring up at the ceiling. The melancholy in the lethargic swings of his tail pained Loki to witness. 

Loki wasn’t sure what he was doing until he found himself kneeling beside the merman, dropping his invisibility. “Shhh,” he assured the merman, cupping its face as its tail swung to go back in the water. To Loki’s absolute amazement, it stilled, staring at him. “I have not given you the attention I should have.” The mermaid blinked, its eyes somehow duller in the moonlight. “I have not even given you a name.” 

Loki let out a sigh. The mermaid was _his_. This was unacceptable. “An obvious choice would be for the red of your tail, but it is your eyes that most—”

“—Tony,” the merman cut him off. The dumbfounded look on Loki’s face was priceless. “My name is Tony.” 

“To-ny,” Loki repeated slowly, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Yeah,” the merman breathed out. He sat up, using Loki’s temporary shock to retreat into the water. 

Loki stood, hearing the merman surface behind him. He turned back over his shoulder. It was watching him, weary, but not running away. Loki turned to face him. “Do you understand me?” He asked, voice at a higher register than usual. 

“Obviously,” the merman answered. The flippancy in his answer made Loki wonder if the merman understood that he was a prince before the rest of his thoughts caught up with him. He supposed it would mean nothing to the merman if he knew anyway. 

The moonlight caught Loki’s features in odd ways, lending shadows that made his pale face and questioning eyes stand out. He wore nothing but his robe, a long black garment that trailed behind him on the tiles. The merman took his silence as an opportunity to speak. “Look, buddy. If you’re going to keep me here, the least you could do is put some salt in the water. I’m going to get fin rot in here.” 

Loki felt a blush on his cheeks, though he had no idea why. The merman dismissed him, turning his head to the side as if it was Loki who was incapable of intelligent thought. “And I don’t like that floral shit you’ve got in the far pool.” The merman dove under, swimming away to leave Loki in stunned silence. 

Loki’s attention turned to the state of the pools. 

The one was essential to cleanse himself after heavier magical workings, but the rest could go. 

 

The next morning, the merman awoke to the sound of intruders in the pool. Many of them. In a panic, he surfaced to find a group of work men, draining the water from the tub with heavy hoses and banging with tools that pained his ears. 

Seeing that the doors were open, Tony lunged forward in the pool, only to find that it had been cut off from the rest. “Don’t get any ideas,” a familiar voice warned behind him. He stilled. “I will not have you drowning the ones who are to sculpt these baths to your liking.” 

Loki stood with crossed arms behind him, cold. “Either you find contentment in these baths, or I dump you into the palace pool to befriend the guppies and be gawked at by every palace visitor.” 

The merman shivered at the last remark. He had not enjoyed the daily inspections inside the merchant’s tent.

“Okay,” the merman said. “But can I have some tools and things to work on?” 

The look Loki gave him was down right incredulous. 

Tony didn’t seem to see anything wrong with the request. “I’m bored.” He sunk a little lower into the water, distraught. “I was a craftsman. It’s what I do.” 

“You mean to make your escape,” Loki said, uncertain of when he’d begun feeling so possessive of the damned fish. 

“I make necklaces, tools, anything that can be carved,” the merman said. “That’s—the only thing I remember of home,” he confessed. “Please. I am so bored.” 

Loki said nothing, but his gaze had turned contemplative the moment it left the merman’s face. 

 

One of the scented tubs was completely blocked off, but now the connecting paths between the pools were wide, easily swimmable. One pool even had sands and plants within it. The center bath remained as it always had been, although now there was a channel connecting the tubs around it so that the main pool could be circumvented completely. If the merman wished to get into the freshwater main tub, he’d have to flop out of the water and pull himself in. 

Tony was giddy as he found the pool with plants growing in it, but he came to a complete standstill when he found a shiny assortment of metals and carving tools at the bottom. Loki didn’t see him for three days. The food still disappeared. Loki was feeling entirely snubbed when he walked into the baths and found an intricately carved pendant set beside his soaps at the center bath. 

Loki picked up the silver pendant, running his thumb over the smooth spots on the surface. It was a carving of a star. 

“Tony,” he called. 

The merman surfaced, gazing at him with more openness than Loki had ever seen. 

“Thank you.” 

The merman smiled. It was a beautiful smile. “Do you like it?” He swam closer, pausing a few feet from the edge. 

“Yes,” Loki said. He cupped it in his hand, eyes set on the merman. “I do.” In truth, it sent strange, fluttering feelings through his chest. “I need to make something perfectly clear.” He hadn’t prepared a speech at all, and yet it was falling form his lips unbidden. “I wish for you to be happy here.” 

The merman stared at him until it became uncomfortable. “I am,” he said, the certainty in his voice shocking Loki. 

“You. Are,” Loki questioned. 

The merman didn’t balk. “I can create, I’m not living in a jar with six months of sludge on the side and somebody stacking books on the top so I can’t snatch stuff to play with, you fixed up this place and I haven’t had water this wonderful in years—”

“—What have your years been like?” Loki interrupted, unable to hold the question inside. 

The merman shrugged. “I spent most of them in transit to the market here.” Loki sat down by the pool, tucking the pendant into his pocket. “Hey,” Tony said suddenly, brightly. “Why’d you pick me? Nobody ever picked me.” 

Loki had to catch himself to not allow the sympathy to show on his face. How he’d started feeling something for the fish was beyond him. “You were the only one left,” he said indifferently. 

“Oh,” the merman said, so much disappointment loaded into the one syllable that Loki actually felt guilty. 

He tilted his head to the side by a fraction. “And you are unique,” Loki said, the praise oddly making him feel warm too. 

The merman swam up to the ledge of the pool, incapable of hiding his curiosity. “You’re nice,” he said, a question lurking in it somewhere. 

Loki grinned. “There are few that would agree.” The merman drifted back a few inches in the water, away from him. “But so long as you see to it that you do not drown me, I doubt you shall have to worry about it.” 

“Got it,” the merman promised. He stared at Loki with a contemplation that Loki was getting used to. “Why uh, why did you get me?” His tail twitched. Loki stared at him, a crease in his brow, the look in his eyes uncomfortably intelligent. “I thought you were going to eat me,” the merman explained. 

Loki’s eyes widened before he caught himself. “Merpeople are poisonous,” he stated. 

“What?!” 

Loki wasn’t sure if he was being manipulated, but the surprise seemed genuine. “You didn’t know?” 

The merman shook his head. “The fish trader told me if I kept breaking out of the jar he’d sell me off for dinner.” Loki huffed slightly. “He was bluffing,” the merman mumbled unhappily. He twirled his tail around, curling and uncurling it. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said suddenly, turning to Loki with curious eyes. 

Loki wasn’t sure of the answer himself. “I wanted to,” he said, as if that was answer enough. The merman didn’t really seem to care after a moment. He looked away from Loki, instead admiring the room with something that seemed like comfort. 

“Hey, uh. What’s it like out there?” Tony tilted his head a little, waiting. 

“Out where?” Loki asked, forcing him to define it, weary of the merman seeking an escape still. 

“Out there,” the merman insisted. “The ocean, and outside—I only ever got to see what was happening with the fish trader.” 

Loki twisted his lips to the side. “If you learn to read I will bring you books.” He hadn’t considered entertaining the pet, but that seemed like a mistake. The merman lit up at the suggestion. 

Over the next week Loki taught him to read, astonished at how quickly Tony caught on. 

 

The very next week Tony was reading books and weighing in on Loki’s complaints about the court. A small succession of trinkets made by Tony began appearing, given to Loki between exchanges of books and gossip. Loki kept them all, even though he had no use for them. 

Tony was the first friend he’d had that didn’t seem to desire a friendship out of selfish reasons. He smiled when Loki arrived, and made him laugh more often than not. Loki didn’t even mind the casual way Tony treated him, or the lack of formality in his speech. Oddly, those things just made Loki feel closer.

When Tony asked for new materials, Loki brought them. When Tony asked for foods he’d seen in books, Loki got them even if it was difficult. 

More and more Loki found himself pouring his free time into chats with the creature, enjoying them so ardently that he even wished to sleep in the baths so that he wouldn’t have to part from the creature and be so alone at night. It was the last desire that started to vex him. Tony was a fish, and all would laugh at him if they knew how dearly Loki treasured his company. Still, he only found himself spending every free moment in the bathing suite. 

Loki brought Tony more and more books, no longer astonished at how quickly Tony could devour them. Tony created too, often disappearing only to reemerge hours later with a trinket for Loki to keep. The merman seemed so happy and content with him. He had taken to sitting beside Loki in the bath, his tail brushing against Loki’s legs. It seemed innocent, but Loki couldn’t deny the pleasure he took from it. 

“Hey, Loki,” Tony said one afternoon, when Loki had been in the bath so long that his fingers were like prunes. Tony was seated directly beside him in the main pool, his head propped up on one elbow. 

Loki was only inches from the merman’s face, but he still pretended to be surprised by the call to attention. “Yes, Anthony?” 

The merman’s tail flickered irritably at the unwanted nickname, but he didn’t complain. “When are you going to take me to the ocean?” 

Loki felt the world drop out from under him. A cold chill flooded his veins. “Take you,” his throat clenched. “To the ocean.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, his smooth tail sliding down Loki’s stiff legs. “I want to see it—”

“—If you’re so unhappy here, you should just say so!” Loki shouted at him, face flushed. Tony’s tail curled back in on itself as he stared at Loki, wide eyed. It had been a long time since Loki had seen any fear in him. Ashamed at his outburst, and livid at the merman’s implied escape, Loki pulled himself out of the pool and stormed out the doors, slamming them shut. 

For the first time, Loki sent a servant into the bath with the merman’s food. 

His anger gave way to tears and back again, until he exhausted himself and fell asleep. 

For three days, he avoided the baths and cleansed himself elsewhere. At night, he laid in bed, wondering how he’d made the creature so miserable. How Anthony could think of escape when they’d been so…happy. 

 

On the fourth night, Loki woke to singing. 

It wasn’t like before. No, before, that had been eerily mesmerizing, despite the heartache. This. This was so miserable and wretched that Loki reached for the pillow, pressing it to his ears and blinking back tears. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will it to stop. Anthony didn’t want him. 

He’d… _loved_ …Anthony, and that wasn’t enough. He wasn’t desirable, wasn’t likable. He’d remodeled the entire damn baths to everyone’s amusement, pitying him because he’d become so fond of a pet fish. 

But Anthony was miserable with him. 

He couldn’t keep the notes from his ears. He pressed the downy pillow to his skull, pulling his knees up to his chest. 

It didn’t work. He couldn’t bear it.

Standing on trembling feet, Loki was oblivious to the tears running down his face as he marched into the baths. “Would you _shut up?!_ ” He yelled, voice cracking. He heard a splash. Loki took a deep breath as the sound stopped, his rational thoughts finally returning to him. He rubbed his hands against his face and didn’t notice the soft waves of water as Anthony swam towards him. 

Loki startled when he spotted Anthony in front of him. The water went all the way up to his neck, keeping his distance. He watched Loki wearily, angrily almost. Loki swallowed, blinking. He felt a few hot tears roll down his face and hurried to wipe them away. It was just the damn merman’s song. 

“Where have you been?” Anthony demanded. 

Loki straightened up, breathing in. 

“I said,” Anthony repeated, his tail smacking at the surface of the water. “Where have you been?!” 

His enraged yell echoed off the walls. Loki shrugged, feigning indifference. “Miss me, pet?” 

“Yes!” The merman shouted, knocking Loki completely off guard. “You left me,” he said, furious, “with no one but that terrified girl that thought I was going to drown her every time she walked in and wouldn’t even answer my questions or tell me where you were—” The merman’s fury abruptly sputtered out, replaced by melancholy. “Where did you go?” 

Loki stared with bloodshot eyes at the creature, marveling at how guilty Anthony could make him feel. “You wanted me to bring you to the ocean.” 

“Yeah?” The merman stared at him, waiting for an explanation. 

“That means you wanted to _leave_ ,” Loki hissed, wounded by the creature’s stupidity. 

The merman reached for his leg. Loki flinched, but didn’t move away as Anthony’s thumb kneaded at the soft spot behind his ankle. “I wanted to see the ocean,” the merman said. “With you.” 

Loki stared at Anthony, debating whether or not to believe him. The soft motion at his ankle sent a warmth down his spine, soothing him more than he wanted to acknowledge. He’d…missed Anthony. He’d missed Anthony a lot. 

“I don’t even remember it,” Anthony told him. “I told you, all I remember is being small and making things, and then being in that jar. I wanted to see the ocean again.” Anthony let go of his ankle. “I thought my friend would want to be a part of that.” 

Friend. Loki’s resolve crumbled. He stared down at Anthony, bottom lip still trembling. When had Anthony ever tried to deceive him, in all truth? Perhaps…perhaps he’d overreacted. Loki wiped his fingers against his face, searching for something to say. 

“Asgard’s oceans are nothing like those on Midgard, Anthony.” 

Anthony looked up to him with a glimmer of hope. “In the books they appear similar.” 

“Asgard’s is dangerous, Anthony.” The possessiveness he’d felt since the beginning came back with a vengeance. “I won’t let something happen to you.” 

“Then it won’t,” Anthony said, smiling. He glided back into the water, toned stomach showing as he linked his hands together and leaned his head back against them, elbows propped up. Loki watched him circle the tub with a sinking feeling that he’d bitten off more than he could chew with the creature again. 

Loki closed his eyes, shoulders dropping. “Pets aren’t supposed to be so demanding,” he muttered. 

“Good thing I’m not a pet then,” Anthony answered. Loki felt himself smirking. He wasn’t. He really wasn’t. “When we go to the ocean, I’m going to teach you to really swim—”

“—I can swim—”

“—You cling to the sides of the tub like a barnacle,” Tony answered with such frank honesty that Loki found himself breathing out a laugh. “Maybe if you have a bigger pool you’ll do better. I think this room might be too difficult for you to learn in—why are you laughing?” 

Relief. It was honest relief. Anthony’s hand wrapped around his ankle, squeezing insistently for attention. Loki took a deep breath. “Promise me you won't leave if I bring you,” Loki said. 

Tony quirked an eyebrow at him. “This is my home.” He flopped his tail against the water, smacking it lazily. “Isn’t it?” 

Loki stared at him with bright, vulnerable eyes. “Yes.” 

“Well then, you’ll bring me back after we visit the ocean,” Tony said. “I want to see if I can get some oyster shells to work with, and there might be some corals that’d be good. Do you think we can look for them both?” Tony paused, looking pointedly at Loki’s legs. “You are a bad swimmer though,” he muttered. “Maybe I’ll have to make something for you to float—”

“—I’ll do fine,” Loki assured him. 

Tony turned to him suddenly, his tail wriggling back in forth in an expression Loki hadn’t seen before. “If I promised you something, you have to promise me something, right?” 

“I’ll consider it,” Loki allowed. 

Tony huffed. “Don’t run off like that again.” 

“I—”

“—You left me for days. I thought you were going to send me back to the fish trader. That happened sometimes to the others…I don’t want to go back there,” he told Loki vehemently. 

“I thought you felt trapped here,” Loki admitted. 

Tony rolled his eyes, gliding out into the middle of the pool. “I know what trapped feels like.” He was annoyed by Loki’s statement, although Loki wasn’t sure why. “I know I’d be fish food in the ocean, alright?” He gestured at his chest, giving the room a surly look. “I know I wasn’t good at it, that’s why I had tools—you said I could stay,” he said, starting on another track. “You said you want me to be happy, you said it’s my home—”

“It is,” Loki blurted out, not sure if Anthony wanted to be reassured or argued with as Anthony was so set on telling him off. His heart skipped a beat. “But you tried to escape the first day—”

“I didn’t know how good it was going to be,” Tony defended himself. “I didn’t know you yet.” He blushed suddenly, and that was an entirely new feature on the merman. The scales on his jawline even changed to a deeper shade of red. “So are you going to promise me or not?”

“I promise,” Loki said. It was the easiest promise he’d ever made. Anthony smiled at him, and there was no denying it. His heart melted at the expression. “We’ll charter a boat out to the ocean this week,” Loki promised. 

“You also have to promise to let me teach you how to swim,” Tony said as a matter of fact. “Even with those legs of yours. Maybe I’ll make you fins or something—”

Loki sighed, dropping his robe and climbing into the pool. Immediately Tony was at his side, his tail curling around Loki’s legs like he was afraid the mage would leave again. “I will let you teach me,” Loki said. Not because he was a bad swimmer, but he’d gladly take the offered attention. “Just not tonight,” he said with a tired sigh. He smiled at his friend, lightheaded with how relieved he felt. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Tony said. Loki let his weight rest against the edge of the pool, keeping one hand gripping the ledge while the other absently drifted through the water. He didn’t expect Tony to grab it, but he silenced his surprise. Tony’s hands were calloused but warm. He studied the spaces between Loki’s fingers with rapt attention. “You need webbing.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Loki insisted. 

“I’ve got some netting that might work,” Tony said, not entirely listening to Loki anymore. Loki smiled to himself, content to let Anthony mutter to himself and work. When he seemed to settle on a design idea, Loki slid his fingers in-between Tony’s, holding on as he stared straight ahead. After a moment, the tail gripping his legs tightened by a fraction. “I’m glad you came back, Loki.” 

“Me too.”

.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

There were rumors about a fishing boat that took the youngest prince and his merman out to the ocean once a week, but none dared look into it. The youngest prince had become a happier man, and a ship captain had gotten reliable work. There was another rumor that the finely crafted wares quietly sold at a market stall were supplied by a merman, but none believed that. They purchased their items and moved on, knowing better than to let their curiosity get the best of them.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've already had [ Loki as a mermaid](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1047302/chapters/2094465), so it was Tony's turn. XD I blame this on writing another fic with the ocean in it.


End file.
